We arrive in Paris in the morning, bright eyed and bushy tailed. The weather is significantly cooler in Paris than in all the parts of Italy we visited and I am immediately grateful for the relief from the heat. We pick up some local train tickets, make our way to our hotel, ditch our bags and we're off to discover Paris by having lunch and then heading to Montmartre for a free, tip-supported walking tour by Discover Walks. They are absolutely fantastic and have branches in Paris, San Fran, Barcelona and Prague.
Anyway - our tour guide for Montmartre is Nawelle. As we walk around Montmartre, she points out the obvious, the less obvious and some obscure "Parisian-only" sights:
- Moulin Rouge - which she points out was inaccurately portrayed by the movie of the same name (for starters, the elephant structure from the movie doesn't exist);- Cafe Les Deux Moulins - the cafe where Amelie from the movie Amelie worked;
- Saint Denis - aka the headless saint. Bishop of Paris in the third century, he was sentenced to be crucified on the top of Montmartre during the persecution of Christians in Paris. The legend of St. Denis is that while walking up the hill to Montmartre, the accompanying soldiers got lazy and instead of crucifying him, beheaded him. Determined to be a martyr and be crucified like Jesus, St Denis picked up his head and walked the final 10kms to the top of Montmartre where he eventually died. Upon dying, his head rolled down the hill and where it came to rest, a statue of him carrying his head, was erected in his honor. The same headless statue is also featured on the facade of Notre Dame and St Denis has a Basilica, train station and a town named after him. The name Montmarte is also derived from the old name of the mountain, "Mount of Martyrs".
- The home and bust of Dalida - an Italian-Egyptian singer/actress active from the 1950s through to the 1980s, who lived in Montmartre and while successful, had a very sad personal life. Why is she so important? A 1988 poll by Encyclopedia Universalis (French general encyclopedia published by Encyclopedia Britannica), which sought to find the personalities who had the greatest impact on French Society, revealed her to be the second most important, beaten only by General Charles du Gaulle. It is apparently good luck to touch the heart of the bust of Dalida. However, marks on the bust of Dalida indicate that some folks have just been doing it wrong.
After Montmartre, it's off to the Louvre. It's open till late, which is not common knowledge, so when we are there, it's not as busy as we expected. There's not much to explain about the Louvre as I'm sure it's one of the most visited placed in Paris. I can only share some humorous photos of Tim and I posing with the statues - which of course makes art much more interesting.
Not sure what is more interesting - the Mona Lisa, or the crowd around her.
Our first day in Paris ends with a dinner at a restaurant our hotel receptionist recommended when we asked for French Onion Soup and boy oh boy, we were not disappointed!
After eating our fill, it's time to head home for bed. However, I struggle to fall asleep as the butterflies in my stomach flutter in anticipation for our trip to Mont St Michele tomorrow.
Tim's Observations
- Nawelle (our Montmartre tour-guide) was extremely amused to learn of the Napoleon Complex...apparently it isn't a concept that's referred to in French.
- The Greeks (or perhaps the Romans) were particularly advanced...one of the statues (photo with Ness above) is clearly depicting someone holding an iPhone.
- Pig Trotters must never again be confused with Pork Knuckle. While the restaurant we ate at is famous for both its French Onion Soup and its Pig Trotters, one was absolutely delicious, one was inedible (zero meat, 100% skin and fat).
Tim's Observations
- Nawelle (our Montmartre tour-guide) was extremely amused to learn of the Napoleon Complex...apparently it isn't a concept that's referred to in French.
- The Greeks (or perhaps the Romans) were particularly advanced...one of the statues (photo with Ness above) is clearly depicting someone holding an iPhone.
- Pig Trotters must never again be confused with Pork Knuckle. While the restaurant we ate at is famous for both its French Onion Soup and its Pig Trotters, one was absolutely delicious, one was inedible (zero meat, 100% skin and fat).
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